The Effect of Education and Follow-up Program in Patients Undergoing TAVI

Aortic stenosis is a progressive disease that affects approximately 3% of adults aged 75 and over. If left untreated, the mortality rate of aortic stenosis, which becomes symptomatic in a short time, is 50% in the first year, while this rate rises to 90% within 5 years. Surgical treatment of aortic stenosis has been proven to reduce symptoms and increase survival. Although surgical treatment is considered the gold standard, 30% of elderly patients cannot undergo surgery due to left ventricular dysfunction and comorbidities. The search for new methods with a low-risk rate and a more comfortable post-procedure process has begun. For this purpose, Cribier et al. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) was developed in 2002 as an important alternative to surgical aortic valve placement. The TAVI method; is the procedure of inserting a bioprosthetic aortic valve into the heart using the catheter method without open heart surgery. Although transcatheter aortic valve implantation is more tolerable than surgery, it has certain complications. According to the Valve Academic Research Consortium (VARC-3), common post-procedural complications are; stroke, myocardial infarction, bleeding, major vascular complications, and acute kidney injury. Nursing-specific care problems are stated as bleeding, infection, pain, decrease in cardiac output, and sleep problems. Many factors, such as the high risk of patients undergoing TAVI, the complexity of the procedure, and the complications that may develop after the procedure, require that the nursing care to be applied be specific and individualized to the TAVI procedure. It is very important to understand the experiences of the patients to effectively carry out this special care to be applied before and after TAVI. It is known that being aware of the experiences and needs will contribute positively to the care and treatment of future patients. Instens et al. stated that experiences can be reached by examining perspectives in dept